Hugging the pole.....

[jrobertson62]

My daughter is an 11' pole vaulter as a junior in high school.....but, she has a bad habit of collapsing her left arm on take off and "hugging" the pole. Does anyone have any suggestions/drills to correct this? Any help would be appreciated.

[DLM]

Is there any one, coach,team mate that knows how to do push plants. I believe that if she were to do those she would learn to maintain space between herself and the pole, as well as good body position at takeoff, and become aware of the forces required through the shoulders,trunk,hips,and trail leg. Just a thought.

Dan

[Rhino]

I'm not sure maintaining space with the lower arm should be the goal here. You see pictures of Bubka with a straight bottom arm, but he has 5 meters of pole in front of him and a lower angle between the pole and the ground. Hold lower and have a higher angle, and your lower arm will necessarily be bent on takeoff. Taking off under makes the lower arm bend more, and must be avoided.
I liked the way Altius described the feeling of a proper plant, upward springing with the top hand reaching high and presenting a rock-hard line from the top hand to the toe of the trail leg. I hope I haven't misrepresented his intent. Pressing with the lower arm will leave you in danger of finding yourself in the "deadly L" position.
Being under on takeoff is a prime suspect when the pole is too close to the forehead.

[DLM]

I would not disagree with you how ever there is no indication that she is under and a 11 foot jumper should be high enough on a pole to create space. push plants done right give the vaulter the opportunity to feel that rock hard line that you are talking about. if she is given the opportunity to feel the proper position than she can try to achieve that on the runway. Proper push plants do not and should not teach a locked out bottom arm.

[jrobertson62]

Thank you for the feedback. I did talk to a coach from a another school who understands what a push plant is......she is going to work on that when our snow melts. I did wonder if she is too far under the pole when she takes off. If I understand correctly she should should tall with er top hand straight up when she plants and takes off....sorry if I sound ignorant about this.

[DLM]

I totally understand, the suggestion that a gave you is just one of may drills that will help jumpers. But the advice is based on the assumption that other aspects of her run and takeoff are right or at least close. and that she is on the correct pole for her power and weight. yes you are right her top hand should be high and (straight upper arm) over her head and both her head and upper hand should be over her jump leg at takeoff. I wish her all the best and be safe.

[dgracecpv]

Hope this post finds you well. The collapse of the left (bottom) arm and therefore hugging the pole is the result of one or two deficiencies in your daughter's vault. 1) It may be a strength issue or 2) it may be a technical issue.

1) As a strength issue, it can be resolved be incorporated strength training. Pull ups and many high bar drills can be highly beneficially in this scenario. Additionally if you have the resources, bench press and auxiliary lifts engaging the triceps will build strength in this area immensely. While the suggested workouts are specific to the left arm deficiency, strength training with full body lifts are highly beneficial in the pole vault just as well. With strength comes speed; this includes runway speed and pulling to invention and eventually pushing off the top of the pole.

2) Technique is both complicated but also crucial to our sport. Technique is also the fastest way to seek improvement in one's vault with strength and mentality being the other areas of improvement. Watch your daughter approach in full, is her left arm full extended during her last four strides (two lefts)? From two lefts, the pole should be parallel with the ground and the left (bottom) arm should be fully extended. Mastering this positioning and execution will give your daughter space at take off to capitalize on her momentum and pull herself to inversion with maximum pole speed. Before the pole hits the back of the box, the left (bottom) arm should be full extended and between nose and mouth level. Pay attention to this arm's position throughout the full approach, be sure she is not dropping her left arm too early or she will not be able to be in the proper position at take off. This technique can best be mastered by standing and then walking drills before in her run at full speed. Also watch to be sure she is setting up and jumping up and take of and not just running into the pole. I mention this because you said she is often hugging the pole.

Additionally, watching proper technique is a great way to learn. As both a coach and athlete, I find it incredible helpful to first see and also understand why something should be done a certain way when training technique. My favorite resource for technical advisement is m640.com! Coach Roman Botcharnikov has a great explanation of the technical model and having your daughter watch videos of the ideal execution can be highly beneficial. Hope this post helped, good luck!